People become homeless for lots of reasons, and often it's the accumulation of multiple, constant pressures that act in unison to cause homelessness. Our guests have faced challenges like the loss of a job, domestic violence, mental illness, release from the care system with few resources, breakdown of a relationship and the death of a partner or parent -- to name just a few. Anyone faced with a set-back can stumble; a series of mishaps can cause a life to unravel.  

Watch our short animated film that uses real life stories to illustrate the many ways people can become homeless.

On top of this, the stock of affordable housing is dwindling and the property market in London remains prohibitively high for many. With cuts to benefits and social housing, more and more people are finding themselves unable to make ends meet.

Trends

Rough sleeping has been on the rise since 2005. The number of people sleeping rough in London has more than tripled in that time.

11,018 people were recorded as having slept rough in the capital in 2020/21. This data, from the Greater London Authority's Chain database, tracks rough sleepers in London seen by outreach workers. This is a 3% increase compared to the total of 10,726 people seen the year before and almost twice that of ten years ago. Within the 11,018 overall total, 7,531 were new rough sleepers who had never been seen bedded down in London prior to this year.

This rise in homelessness is particularly alarming as it came when there was a huge influx of funds to support people off the streets. In effect, the number of new rough sleepers caused the total number to rise. Now that the furlough scheme has ended and evictions have begun, we are concerned we will see more of this trend. 

While the statistics do reflect general trends, the numbers are widely acknowledged to under-represent the true scale of rough sleeping (see "Thousands not counted in rough sleeping report").

The rough sleeping count represents the tip of the iceberg. Those staying in shelters and hostels are not included. Nor are the people sleep on night buses, stay out of sight, or rove from one couch to another.

As in previous years, the most frequently cited reason for becoming homeless was being evicted or asked to leave by the person they were staying with (42%). Yet a greater proportion were found to have no support needs (mental health, alcohol/drug dependency). People are closer to the edge of homelessness than ever before.

The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea has the largest statistical gap between the richest and poorest residents in all of London. Demand for our services continues to grow.

Economic reasons or the lack of affordable housing as a reason for homelessness in rich areas is shameful. But ending homelessness is not just a matter of justice and social cohesion.

Homelessness also adds to the strain on the medical system. We know homelessness can be devastating to someone's ability to maintain their physical and mental health. The average age of death of a homeless man in London is 47, around 30 years below the figure for the population as a whole. For women, it is 43, 40 years below the figure for women in the general UK population.

There is hope

While the data is stark and the human experiences are often heartbreaking, we do have a formula that offers hope. 

Read the stories of some of our guests.

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